Tag Archives: Sushi

Anthony Bourdain always makes me smile. Whether it’s Krampus, the black and white Rome episode of No Reservations, or his sparring with Paula Deen – he always seems to be having a good time. I heard him on the radio a few weeks ago shilling for his new graphic novel. Generally his books are either food or crime based. Combine the two and add some gratuitous violence and you’ve got “Get Jiro,” a graphic novel set in a vaguely future Los Angeles. It’s about a violent (okay very violent) sushi chef in a society where chefs rule like crime bosses. Oh, and people literally kill to get a seat at the best restaurants. The artistry in the illustrations is fantastic and I’m looking forward to an entertaining if bloody read. Oh and there are militant vegans. Who write their threats in blood.

You can check out some of the more family friendly images below, be assured the book itself is as graphic as the genre suggests. Get Jiro is available today at comic book stores and July 3 everywhere else in the modern world. Continue reading →

I&S BBDO (a Japanese ad agency) was recognized with Best of Show Design Lotus at Adfest, in Thailand earlier this week. Why does this matter? They won for the laser cut nori they produced for their client – Umino Seaweed. It’s decorative artwork for your sushi roll, nothing more. It’s still pretty neat. I’m a sucker for pretty sushi.

Five designs were introduced: Sakura (Cherry Blossoms), Mizutama (Water Drops), Asanoha (Hemp), Kikkou (Turtle Seashell), Kumikkou (Tortoise Shell). The first thing that popped into my head upon seeing this was the fact that it wouldn’t be long before some prat got around to branding sushi with the Louis Vuitton pattern.

The design project was developed to help the North East Japan company rebuild in the wake of the March 2011 tsunami. Check out the pics below. Continue reading →

Recently we wrote a bit about the now 20 state salmonella outbreak that was occurring, linked to a fish processor in California. Moon Marine voluntarily recalled 58,828 pounds of frozen raw yellowfin tuna after it was linked to the outbreak. The tuna was packaged as “Nakaochi Scrape AA” or “AAA.” It’s not sold to consumers, rather a bulk product meant for restaurants and food producers. Nakaochi Scrape is the backmeat that’s shaved off fish bones and added to products like ground yellowfin tuna. It’s used in many sushi rolls, among them the spicy tuna rolls that sickened most people. This particular batch of fish came from India.

The Food and Drug Administration said more than 140 illnesses have been reported, including 12 people who have been hospitalized. No deaths have resulted. The first lawsuit stemming from that outbreak has officially been filed.

Two Wisconsin women, 22 and 33, claim they were severely sickened after eating tuna sushi rolls at a local restaurant. The sushi rolls allegedly contained ground yellowfin tuna with Nakaochi Scrape. The victims’ lawyer told MSNBC that distributors may have removed packaging before selling the product to restaurants, leaving them unaware they were selling a potentially dangerous product.

The symptoms of salmonella infections generally include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps within 72 hours of eating tainted food. Victims usually recover after about a week.

The two Wisconsin women bringing the suit suffered infections that were more severe, requiring hospitalization. One of the women suffered an ulcerated colon, which her lawyer attributes to the tainted fish product.

Food-poisoning cases like this lawsuit generally fall under product liability law. Anyone in the chain of distribution; the manufacturer, distributor, wholesalers, even the restaurant, can be held liable. It’s not known where the contamination originated from, investigations are underway to determine the source. All of the victims were infected with a relatively rare strain of the bacteria, salmonella bareilly.

Ground meats, such as beef or chicken, are often a problematic. The sheer quantity of animals used to make the product means that one infected animal can taint large amounts of the final product. Ground beef and poultry are cooked before being served, generally killing off any harmful bacteria. Because sushi is eaten raw, any contaminated food is infectious.

No secret I’m a huge fan of sushi. I like sushi rolls just fine but I’m big on the slab-of-fish-on-a-bed-of-rice nigiri thing. Spicy tuna rolls are sort of the ground beef of the sushi world. One more reason to think likewise today. Salmonella. An outbreak of an unusual strain of salmonella called Salmonella Bareilly has hit 19 states and DC, infecting 90 people since late January, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Oops on publicizing the event. The outbreak was made public on Tuesday when an internal memo was inadvertently sent to everyone at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), according to agency spokesperson Curtis Allen. Ouch. According to the memo, speculation as to the source of the outbreak centers around ”spicy tuna roll sushi” as being highly suspect, according to the Wall Street Journal reports. The source of the infection is as yet unknown. Continue reading →

Good sushi can be a difficult thing to find. Scratch that, inexpensive, good sushi is hard to find. Good sushi is easy when you’re paying $200 for dinner, although I’ve even had that get screwed up. And wow does that make you angry. Some guy has the gall to be charging prices for fish that would buy ingots of silver the same weight and somehow the texture and taste aren’t all quite there. Boo! A good sushi place with reasonable prices is magical – like a unicorn.

It’s the Godzirra Roll (Yes Godzirra – two rr’s) from small chain of restaurants called Sticky Rice in the DC-aea. They just firmly affixed said sushi to a plate, attached a camera, added a sound track, and voila – you have sushi in space. In collaboration with RVA TV and Bark Marketing, Sticky Rice launched a sushi plate of their popular Godzirra roll on January 1st of this year. Six months of planning and testing because they weren’t just battling making good sticky rice – oh no….-60F in space, FAA regulations, overheating or freezing batteries, GPS issues, stabilization, and how to make the damn sushi stay together in high winds all played into the 6 months of planning. That’s a fairly lofty plate of sushi.

“Our team is hoping for national attention and plan to make a shorter commercial for local air play. We loved the Toshiba ‘Chair in Space’ commercial and it was the basis of this project wondering if it could happen on a shoe-string budget for a small business.”